—What were you doing when Tony phoned you?

—I had just finished my work and________ to take a shower.

A. had started                  B. started

C. have started                 D. was starting

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with word or phrases that best fits the context.
When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship and gained 36___ to Harvard University. And her 37___story has inspired a movie, Homeless to Harvard: The Tony Morrison Story 38___ in late April.
Tony Morrison, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Tony grew up in the 39___of two drug-addicted parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Tony was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Tony was just 15 years old. The effect of that loss 40___ a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it. Tony went back to school. She 41___ herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she slept on the streets.
“What drove me to survive had 42___to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,” she wrote in her book Breaking Night. She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that came easily to others, such as a safe living environment, 43___ herself that “next to nothing could hold me 44___”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University.
But Tony decided to leave her top university for a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her 45___, who has also developed AIDS. “I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me 46___.” Tony wants moviegoers to go away with the idea that changing your 47___ is “as simple as making a decision”.
36. A. permission           B. entry                C. honor              D. confidence
37. A. puzzled               B. puzzling            C. amazing            D. amazed
38. A. published             B. appeared           C. sold               D. shown
39. A. charge                      B. face                 C. middle            D. shadow
40. A. lay in                 B. led to                      C. referred to          D. stuck to
41. A. threw              B. put               C. devoted           D. concentrated 
42. A. nothing               B. everything                  C. something         D. anything
43. A. to encourage                 B. to control         C. to persuade         D. to believe
44. A. up                      B. down                      C. off                    D. back
45. A. mother                B. sister               C. father                 D. brother
46. A. once in a while                                   B. time and time again  
C. at the same time                                D. all the time
47. A. life                     B. university            C. way              D. family

When Tony came to himself, he found himself       to a big pole in a dark house.

— What were you doing when Tony phoned you ?

— I had just finished my work and _____ to take a shower.

A. had started       B. started       C. have started       D. was starting

Tony Bennett, the American singer recently touring Britain, can’t remember how many times he has sung his standard hit “I left My Heart in San Fransisco”. He sang it again to his audience at the London Palladium last night.

“I never get tired of singing it.” He said. “I like it too much . It’s a great city and it’s a good song.”

Bennett is to record a TV program with American singer Lens Home while he is here. And a new LP recorded by him in London for Philips titled “Listen Easy” will be published in June.. “I like it here.” He added quietly over whiskey. “I would like to live here so many months of the year.”

He already keeps a large flat in Grosenor Square, where he is staying with his actress wife Sandie Grant and their three-year-old daughter Joanna. It has a studio where he likes to paint. Tony plans to have his first exhibition later in the year and he has already sold one picture for $4000. At the end of the year Tony is to star in a musical film , which has been specially written for him called “Two Bits”, an informal expression for 50 cents. It’s about an Italian immigrant who goes to America , but he becomes a failure.

“In many ways it’s very close to my life the way the story has been written,” said Bennett. “My father, an Italian ,was ill and died when I was nine. He always wanted me to sing, but he never lived long enough to be a part of my success.

1.The underlined phrase “standard hit” most nearly means______

A．Bennett’s favourite song but it’s not very popular.

B．a song that is always popular

C．a song which makes him standard

D．a song which is like a heavy blow to his audience

2.What does Tony Bennett want to do?

A．Buy a house and live in England.

B．Stay with his wife and daughter in England.

C．Live part of each year in England

D．Leave American and settle in England

3.What’s Tony’s hobby?

A．Singing       B．Drinking      C．Playing        D．Painting

4. What can we learn about Tony’s father from this passage?

A．He liked his son’s singing.

B．He was born in Italy and died when Tony Bennett was a small boy

C．He was a part of Bennett’s achievement

D．He was glad that his son became famous.

5.What kind of man is Tony Bennett？

A．hardworking and humorous

B．family-centered and hardworking

C．outgoing and kind

D．ambitious and trustworthy