Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. He was the oldest of five children in his family. His father was a wool weaver. He helped his father with the weaving, but he always wanted to sail the seas.

He didn’t get to school very much, but he learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Some people thought he was trying to prove the world was round, but this is not true. He wanted to find a short way to get to the Indies by ship.

He was a Christian and wanted to tell the story of Christ to the people he would find in the far-away lands. He also wanted wealth for himself and for Spain, and he wanted to be famous. He tried for eight years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money.

They left Spain on August 3, 1492 and sailed toward the west. After many days, the sailors had covered a long distance on the sea and were ready to turn around for home when they saw land, an island Columbus named San Salvador. He thought he had found the Indies and called the people he saw there “Indians”. When they got to Cuba, he thought he was in Japan. The world was a lot larger than he thought.

On Christmas Eve, the Santa Maria was wrecked near Haiti. Columbus built a fort(城堡) and left 40 men to hunt for gold. Then he returned to Spain on the Nina. The people of Spain welcomed him as a hero. He made three more voyages across the ocean. His 13-year-old son, Ferdinand, went with him on the fourth voyage.

Columbus did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and the queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis(关节炎). Columbus not only discovered a New World, but he led the way for other explorers.

1.Columbus taught himself Latin because _______.

2.How was Columbus able to make his voyage to the west?

3.Why did Columbus call the local people in Salvador “Indians”?

4.From the fifth paragraph we can infer that “Santa Maria” and “Nina” must be the names of_________.

5.From the text we know that ________.

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. He was the oldest of five children in his family. His father was a wool weaver. He helped his father with the weaving, but he always wanted to sail the seas.
He didn’t get to school very much, but he learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Some people thought he was trying to prove the world was round, but this is not true. He wanted to find a short way to get to the Indies by ship.
He was a Christian and wanted to tell the story of Christ to the people he would find in the far-away lands. He also wanted wealth for himself and for Spain, and he wanted to be famous. He tried for eight years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money.
They left Spain on August 3, 1492 and sailed toward the west. After many days, the sailors had covered a long distance on the sea and were ready to turn around for home when they saw land, an island Columbus named San Salvador. He thought he had found the Indies and called the people he saw there “Indians”. When they got to Cuba, he thought he was in Japan. The world was a lot larger than he thought.
On Christmas Eve, the Santa Maria was wrecked near Haiti. Columbus built a fort(城堡) and left 40 men to hunt for gold. Then he returned to Spain on the Nina. The people of Spain welcomed him as a hero. He made three more voyages across the ocean. His 13-year-old son, Ferdinand, went with him on the fourth voyage.
Columbus did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and the queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis(关节炎). Columbus not only discovered a New World, but he led the way for other explorers.

1. 1.

   Columbus taught himself Latin because _______.

   1. A.
      he wanted to prove the earth was round.
   2. B.
      he wanted to find a short way to the Indies by sea.
   3. C.
      he found Latin was very useful at that time.
   4. D.
      he wanted to travel around the world.
2. 2.

   How was Columbus able to make his voyage to the west?

   1. A.
      He was supported by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
   2. B.
      He worked hard for eight for to save enough money for his voyage.
   3. C.
      The king and the queen helped him with money and ships.
   4. D.
      Many people supported him with money and food for his voyage.
3. 3.

   Why did Columbus call the local people in Salvador “Indians”?

   1. A.
      Because he thought he had arrived in Japan.
   2. B.
      Because he thought he looked like in the Indies.
   3. C.
      Because he thought it was a wealthy place.
   4. D.
      Because he thought he had arrived in the Indies.
4. 4.

   From the fifth paragraph we can infer that “Santa Maria” and “Nina” must be the names of_________.

   1. A.
      trains
   2. B.
      ships
   3. C.
      cities
   4. D.
      women
5. 5.

   From the text we know that ________.

   1. A.
      Columbus lived a difficult life in his later life.
   2. B.
      Columbus was considered as a hero all his life.
   3. C.
      Columbus didn’t get the wealth as he had hoped for.
   4. D.
      Columbus was the first person to travel round the world.

Last Friday, I was coming home late after spending time with friends and thought I’d go down to the $99 cent pizza place. On the way, I saw a man sitting on the stairs alone there. I’d seen him before every day I run late to work, but this time I had no place to rush off to.

There was something about him, a quiet manner, different from many of other homeless people I had seen in New York City. I walked past him, went to the pizza place, and those 10 seconds waiting in line was enough to practice stepping outside of my usual, familiar flow. So with a few slices in hand, I went back to join him. I asked him if he was hungry. He said yes, but not for pizza because it made him uncomfortable. He’d rather have a few bucks for chicken and rice since it was easier on his stomach. It’s funny, in that moment, he became more real to me.

This man I had seen almost every day was someone with specific conditions, needs, and experiences. We exchanged names and ended up talking for a little over an hour that night as Kevin told me stories from his life, how he had done things when “he was younger and didn’t know any better” and how he tried to make amends (补偿) but too much time had passed. He shared his views on the value for young adults to learn the history of other people.

He talked about his one wish being in his 60’s before he leaves this earth, which is to share his story with the teenagers and young adults so they could avoid the mistakes he went through. Throughout the conversation, he eventually got his chicken and rice and gifted me a rose he had been carrying. Shortly afterwards, I made my way home, thinking to myself, “I met an amazing homeless person”.

1.The writer’s purpose in writing the passage is to ____.

A. share his experience            B. show his generosity 

C. express his thoughts            D. exchange his opinions

2.The homeless man refused pizza because he ____.

A. did not feel very hungry at that moment    

B. had something wrong with his stomach

C. preferred some chicken and rice to pizza    

D. might feel ashamed to be given something

3.What’s the homeless man’s last wish?

A. To become a lot younger again.      

B. To make amends for his early life.

C. To have enough chicken and rice to eat. 

D. To teach the young not to follow his example.

4.It can be inferred from the text that ____.

A. The homeless man is different from others 

B. The writer showed his pity to the homeless man

C. What the homeless man thought shocked the writer 

D. What the homeless man did was not very meaningful

5.How do you like the homeless man after reading the passage?

A. Learned.    B. Honorable.    C. Determined.    D. Promising.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24, 1896, an American novelist, was once a student of St. Paul Academy, the Newman School and attended Princeton University for a short while. In 1917 he joined the army and was posted in Alabama, where he met his future wife Zelda Sayre. Then he had to make some money to impress her.

His life with her was full of great happiness, as he wrote in his diary, “My own happiness in the past often approached such joy that I could share it even with the person dearest to me but had to walk it away in quiet streets and take down parts of it in my diary.”

This Side of Paradise, his first novel, was published in 1920. Encouraged, he continued with the novel The Beautiful and Damned (1922), a collection of short stories Thales of the Jazz Age (1922), and a play The Vegetable (1923). But his greatest success was the novel The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, which quick brought him praise from the literary world. Yet it failed to give him the needed financial security. Then, in 1926, he published another collection of short stories All the Sad Young Men.

However, Fitzgerald’s problems with his wife Zelda affected his writing. During the 1920s he tried to record his life, but failed. By 1930, his wife had her first breakdown and went to a Swiss clinic. During this period he completed novels Tender Is the Night (1934) and The Love of the Last Tycoon (1940). While his wife was in hospital in the United States, he got totally addicted to alcohol. Sheila Graham, his dear friend, helped him fight his alcoholism.

How many novels written by Fitzgerald are mentioned in the passage?

   A. 5             B. 6             C. 7            D. 8

Which is the correct order about Fitzgerald’s life according to the passage?

   a. He became addicted to drinking.

   b. He studied at St. Paul Academy.

   c. He published his first novel This Side of Paradise.

   d. The Great Gatsby won high praise.

   e. He failed to record his life.

   f. He joined the army and met Zelda.

   A. f-c-e-a-b-d     B. b-e-a-f-c-d     C. f-d-e-c-b-a     D. b-f-c-d-e-a

We can infer from the passage that Fitzgerald _____.

   A. had made some money when he met Zelda in Alabama

   B. was well educated and well off before he served in the army

   C. would have completed more works if his wife hadn’t broken down

   D. helped his friend get rid of drinking while his wife was in hospital

The passage is probably followed by a concluding paragraph about ______.

   A. Zelda’s personal life

B. Zelda’s illness and treatment 

C. Fitzgerald’s friendship with Graham

D. Fitzgerald’s contributions to the literary world