完形填空

　　Roberta appeared on the stage．She took a deep breath and began to 　　1　　．Now she was Portia, a strong–willed 　　2　　 in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice．The theater was filled with people．She was speaking with a power she had never before experienced, the words flowing 　　3　　 from her．

　　　　4　　, Roberta had never acted in her life before the audition(选拔试演)．She 　　5　　 being in front of other people．She was very 　　6　　 at school．She had never thought she was good enough at anything to 　　7　　 much attention．She stayed mostly to herself, making 　　8　　 friends．She had excellent grades, 　　9　　 she always thought that something was missing．

　　Two weeks before the audition, Robertsa’s mother had heard about it and 　　10　　 her to join in．

　　“I can’t think of anyone else better suited to 　　11　　 the part．Remember all the plays you used to act out for us?”

　　Her mother wouldn’t let the 　　12　　 drop．“You’re just a little scared(害怕)．Everyone gets scared．You know you 　　13　　 do it．The trick is to look past the 　　14　　 to find the love of what you’re doing．’’

　　So Roberta had made an appointment(预约)with the head of the Drama Club．She had read the play and found herself excited by the 　　15　　 of speaking such rich words．In secret she practiced Portia’s part, memorizing the lines by repeating them over and over．It wasn’t hard; she loved every minute of it．Every time she spoke the words, she had a new understanding of the lines, as if Shakespeare had written Portia on many levels．

　　On the day of the audition, she performed two of Portia’s famous speeches for the auditors．When she had finished, the head of the Drama Club announced the part was hers．

阅读理解

　　Amie Carton was only 18 months old when she had the accident that scarred(留下创伤)her for life．The curious child reached up to get the wire of a hot kettle in the kitchen and poured boiling water over her body．

　　Her mother Ruby called an ambulance which rushed her to a nearby hospital．Twenty percent of Amie' s body had been burned and all of her bums were third-degree．There, using tissue taken from unburned areas of Amie' s body, doctors performed complex skin grafts(移植)to close her wounds and control her injuries, an operation that took about six hours．Over the next 16 years, Amie had 12 more operations to repair her body．

　　When she started school at age 4, other pupils made cruel comments or simply wouldn't play with her．" I was the only burned child in the street," she recalled, " some children refused to become friends because of that．”

　　Today, age 17, Amie can only ever remember being a burned person with scars; pain is a permanent part of her body．She still has to have two further skin grafts．Yet she is a confident, outgoing teenager who offers inspiration and hope to other young bums victims．She is a member of the Scottish Burned Children's Club, a charity set up last year．This month, Amie will be joining the younger children at the Graffham Water Center for the charity' s first summer camp．"I'll show them how to treat others' unkind stares as unimportant and not worry about them," she says．Amie loves wearing fashionable sleeveless tops, and she plans to show the younger children at the summer camp that they can too．"I do not go to great lengths to hide my burns scars," she says, "I gave up wondering how other people would react years ago．"