The 47-year-old singer talks about the new album Symphony（交响乐） that came out of a “very dark time”, including her decision to give up trying to have children. “People have suggested I could adopt,” Brightman says. “But work is central to my life now. And so I am going to put it to one side. After a while not having children becomes the norm and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different. I’m not hurt by not having children. My life and career are incredibly rich.”
Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted (father a property developer who later committed suicide), she says: “I was gifted as a child, and very musical. I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts. At 5，I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume.” She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school.
Brightman led the saucy dance troupe（辣妹三人舞） Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978. At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Graham Stewart. “I was probably in love but I can’t remember. Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22. It didn’t really work out.” In 1981 she was spotted by Lloyd Webber. She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera. They married in 1984.
Brightman says she felt hostility(敌意) “from the beginning. I haven’t tried to understand it. I’ve done very well everywhere else, especially the US, where I now live, I just accept it for what it is. The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it. But I don’t miss it, although I miss my family. Our profession can be uncomfortable but I enjoy what I do. I get on with it.”
【小题1】The first paragraph tells us that _____.

“Hurry, Mommy! Let’s go trick-or-treating!” My daughter waited by the door in her pink princess skirt while I prayed in the living room. Usually I liked taking her out on Halloween, but this year I was sad. I was worried about my mother, who was in China on vacation. I got a call that afternoon that she had slipped and fallen on the hard floor of her hotel and broken her leg. She was taken to a hospital in Beijing. Mom was nervous because she couldn’t understand any of the doctors. If only I could do something to help her!
I knew I couldn’t let my worries spoil my daughter’s fun. There was nothing I could do for Mom except pray, I thought. We left the house and went down the block. I was so upset that I hardly took notice of the kids around me. There came the man to whose son I’d once given piano lessons. “Hello there,” I said, greeting him and the boy at his side.
“Hello,” the father answered. “Having fun?”“I’m trying,” I said. “Why, what’s wrong?” he asked. I told him the whole story. “My mother, in China, broke her leg and didn’t understand any of the doctors. And I’m too far away to do anything!” I said.
He raised his eyebrows. “Beijing, you said?” he asked. I nodded. He smiled. “Believe it or not, my sister is a doctor at an English-speaking hospital there. If you want, I’ll make a call right away and we’ll try and get your mom transferred (转移).”
A few days later I sat in the living room with my daughter as she finished the last of the candy. “Mommy, how far away is China?” she asked. “Not as far as I thought,” I said.
【小题1】What did the author’s daughter want to do?

In the suburban district of a city lived an old woman quite alone. Her husband died thirty years ago and two years later, her only son went away with lung cancer. So she had no family still living and her only friend was a little white dog who went everywhere with her - with one exception. The dog loved the fireplace in winter, and after the old woman went to bed he would sometimes go and lie in front of the warm coals. Usually though, the dog lay on a rug right next to the bed.

Deeply as the old woman loved her dog, she wouldn't allow the dog on the bed with her. However, if she became frightened or had a nightmare, she would put her hand down to her little white dog and he would lick it to calm her down.

One night she was reading the newspaper just before going to sleep. She trembled and pulled the duvet（羽绒被褥）up around her as she read that a mental patient had wandered out from a nearby hospital. No one knew if the patient was dangerous or not, but he was a suspect in the murders of several women who lived alone.

The woman turned off the lights and tried to sleep, but she was frightened, and turned over continually. Finally, she reached down to where her little white dog slept. Sure enough, a warm, wet tongue began to lick her hand. The woman felt reassured and safe, and left her hand hanging off the side of the bed. As she turned to settle in comfortably she opened her eyes for a moment and looked through the open door into the living room.

There in front of the fireplace, sat her little white dog, gazing at the coals and wagging his tail. And down beside her bed, something was still licking her hand.

1.From the first paragraph we can know that _________.

2.Why didn’t she allow the dog on the bed with her?

3.The reason the old woman shivered was that _____________.

4.Seeing the dog still sitting by the fireplace, __________.

When I was small and my grandmother died, I couldn't understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laughs turned into crying.

So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing are controlled by the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so does crying.

Whatever helps us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional health, and crying seems to work well. One study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.

Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendlier and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don't even know we're very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them.

Just as crying can be healthy, not crying---holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering---can be bad for physical health. Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can 1ead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illness. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don't fight it. It's a natural, healthy and emotional response.

1.Why didn't the author cry when her grandmother died?

2.It can be inferred from the text that _______________________.

3.According to the author, which of the following statements is true?

4.What might be the most suitable title for the text?

5.What is the author's attitude to "crying"?

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为16—25的相应位置上。

Ms. Mary was over eighty, but she still drove her old car like half her age. She loved driving very fast, and boasted of the fact   16.          she had never, in her thirty-five years of driving, been punished  17.          a driving mistake.

Then one day, she nearly lost her record. A police car followed her, and the policemen in it saw her pass a red light without  18.          (stop).

When Ms. Mary came before the judge, he looked at her severely and said that she was too old to drive a car, and that the reason  19.                    she had not stopped at red light was most probably that her eyes had become weak        20            old age, so that she had simply not seen it.

When the judge had finished  21.           he was saying, Ms. Mary opened the big handbag she was carrying and took out her sewing. Without saying a word, she  22.              (choose) a needle with a very small eye, and threaded it at the first time.

When she had  23               (success) done this, she took the thread out of the needle again and handed both the needle and thread to the judge, saying, “Now it is your turn. I suppose you can drive a car well, and you have no doubts   24.          your eyesight.”

The judge took the needle and tried to thread it. After half a dozen times, he had still not succeeded. The case against Ms. Mary  25.         (dismiss), and her record remained unbroken.