The life of an actor appears attractive and many young people dream about becoming one. But the truth is, it is very hard work. If you’re successful, there are deadlines to be met, appointments to keep and the press to deal with. If you’re not successful, then life is extremely tough.
I remember when I started out, I had to search the advertisement board at my drama school every day to look for acting jobs. Drama school was expensive and I needed extra cash to help pay the fees. I welcomed every small job. I played extras in many crowd scenes and became a confident participant in a lot of TV commercials for hair shampoo, soap and washing powder.
I had been working for about two years before I got my lucky break. One day, as I was passing the drama school, I decided to go in to check the notice board. There was nothing on it and I was just leaving when the secretary came along the corridor with a piece of paper. She asked me how I was and I told her life was hard and work was difficult to find. The next moment, she put the paper in my hand and walked away. My hands were shaking as I unfolded the paper, full of expectation. To my surprise, it was an audition (试演) for a clown（小丑）for the Canadian circus. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I had expected an audition with a famous director for a new film!
When I was at drama school, there had been a course in acrobatics and clown tricks. I had gained top marks in this course for originality and daring. Later I went to the audition feeling very strange. This was not what I’d had in mind when I enrolled in drama school. To my surprise, the job as a clown turned out to be exactly what I wanted. I loved every moment of getting dressed up and putting on the make-up. I had the opportunity to travel the world and I was more than an actor, I was an entertainer as well. I had visited over 32 different countries and entertained millions of people.
【小题1】The first paragraph is about how _______ it is to be an actor, whether you’re successful or not.

Seventeen-year-old Rivertown teenager, John Janson, was honoured at the Lifesaver Awards last night for carrying out lifesaving first aid on his neighbour after a shocking knife    36  .
John was presented with his award at a ceremony which recognized the    37   of the ten people who have saved the life of others.
John had been studying in his room when he heard  38 . When he and his father rushed outside, they    39   that Anne Slade, mother of three, had been stabbed（刺）   40   with a knife by her ex-boyfriend（前男友）. The man ran from the  41  and left Ms Slade lying in her front garden    42   very heavily. Her hands had almost been cut off.
It was John’s quick    43   and knowledge of first aid that saved Ms Slade’s life. He immediately asked a number of the    44   people for bandages（绷带）, but when nobody could put their hands on anything, his father got some tea towels（毛巾）and    45   from their house. John used these to dress the most severe    46   to Ms Slade’s hands. He slowed the bleeding by applying pressure to the wounds until the    47   and ambulance arrived.
“I’m    48   of what I did but I was just doing what I had been    49  ,” John said.
John had taken part in the Young Lifesaver Scheme at his high school. When   50  John, Mr Alan Southerton, Director of the Young Lifesaver Scheme, said, “   51  is no doubt that John’s quick thinking and the first aid52   that he had learned at school saved Ms Slade’s life. It shows that a simple knowledge of the first aid can make a real   53  .”
John and the nine other lifesavers also attended a    54   reception yesterday hosted by the Prime Minister before    55   their awards last night.

When I was 8, a gentleman came to my orphanage（孤儿院）and taught us how to do woodworking projects.

I remember my first project—a small table. I was so      of it that I looked upon it as if I had created a(an)       . It was absolutely beautiful and it had taken me six weeks to       it. I could hardly wait to give it to Mother Winters as a         . She was the head mistress of our orphanage, who was always       with us.

As the tables were not dry from the clear coating, the man told us to wait a few days before taking them to our dormitories. But I was just so        and happy that I couldn’t wait. I dashed out like a        , carrying my table, smiling from ear to ear.

When I reached the dormitory I placed the little table beside my bed. I was         it when Mother Winters entered. She walked over to the table. Running her hand         it, she noticed that it was still wet.

“Were you          to bring this home?” she asked.

“No, ma’am,” I         with my head down.

She ordered me to throw the table out and so I did. After she left, I immediately opened the door to get it back. There was         stuck all over. I brushed and cried, but it would not come off.

I hid the table in my closet and never         it. A year later while cleaning up, I gave the table to Mother Henderson, my houseparent（宿管员）, thinking that she would         it away.

Thirty years later at a reunion, I         that Mother Henderson was living nearby, so I drove up to see her. We talked cheerfully for long. As I was about to leave, she asked me to come down to her          to get something important. I followed her         into a dark corner. She picked something up.          she turned around, I could see that she was holding a little table.

Mother Henderson kept the little table that I had given up for lost so long ago.

Today, I look at that table with bittersweet memories but full of         to Mother Henderson, who kept it for a young orphan who tried very hard to        .

1.A. tired                     B. ashamed                 C. proud                          D. aware

2.A. award                            B. wonder              C. record               D. product

3.A. design                      B. invent            C. paint                                    D. complete

4.A. gift             B. reward                       C. prize                           D. souvenir

5.A. satisfied             B. strict                           C. patient                              D. angry

6.A. upset              B. amazed           C. confident                         D. excited

7.A. thief          B. hero                           C. sword                               D. flash

8.A. drying                      B. observing                 C. admiring                           D. hiding  

9.A. into                 B. across                  C. above                                 D. after

10.A. supposed                   B. embarrassed          C. encouraged               D. determined

11.A. agreed                  B. sighed                       C. whispered                  D. argued

12.A. dirt                     B. glue                         C. paint                            D. wood

13.A. removed           B. touched                  C. shook                          D. split

14.A. put                         B. give                           C. take                                   D. throw

15.A. learned        B. expected           C. remembered     D. recommended

16.A. bathroom                   B. balcony              C. basement         D. bedroom

17.A. curiously           B. unwillingly         C. doubtfully                    D. worriedly

18.A. Before                   B. Since                         C. As                             D. Until

19.A. admiration                 B. gratitude           C. sympathy                           D. regret

20.A. adapt                          B. study                       C. perform                           D. please

On August 5 at 10:31 p.m. PST, a rover（探测器）named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars, and I was lucky enough to have a front-row seat.
My name is Clara, and when I was in Grade 6, I won the essay contest NASA held to name its next Mars rover. The essay I wrote was not even 250 words long, but somehow it was enough to change my life.
I still remember that cold December day, sitting in a science class. I’d finished a worksheet early and decided to get a Time for Kids magazine off Mrs. Estevez’s bookshelf. It was the 2008 Invention Issue, but that wasn’t the only thing that caught my eye. In the magazine, there was an article about a girl who named the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The article also talked about the essay contest NASA was holding to name its next Mars rover. Before I even knew anything else about it, a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind: Curiosity.
I couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay. That afternoon, I raced home from the bus stop, sat down at the computer and typed until my fingers ached. It turned out that I was just in time. A few days later, and the contest would have closed.
Five months later, shortly after I had turned 12, I was watching a National Geographic special on mammoths when the phone rang. My mom answered, and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face. When she told me that I had won, I was happier than I could ever remember being, I screamed and ran up and down the stairs and all around the house. I completely forgot about the mammoths and did not even remember to turn off the TV until it was really late.
Curiosity is such an important part of who I am. I have always been fascinated by the stars, the planets, the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl, my grandfather and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. He’d tell me stories and point out the stars.
My grandfather lived in China, thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas. I loved the stars because they kept us together even when we were apart. They were always there, yet there was so much I didn’t know about them. That’s what I love so much about space. No matter how much we learn, it will always possess some mystery.
In the past, space exploration may have been a competition to see who got somewhere first or the fastest. But now, it is one of the few things that bring people together. Science is a language that needs no translation. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you look like – you just have to have a thirst for knowledge and a passion for learning in order to succeed.
People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mars. Why do we explore? My answer to that is simple: because we can; because we’re curious; because we as human beings do not just stay holed up in one place. We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what’s over the hill and beyond the horizon.
The curiosity rover is more than just a robot. It is more than just a titanium body and aluminum wheels. Curiosity represents the hard work, passion, love and commitment of thousands of people from all over the world who were brought together by science. Science is so awesome. It is breathtaking and mind-blowing; and sometimes, it’s just a little bit crazy. The discoveries we make about our world are incredibly humbling. They move us forward and have the potential to benefit all of mankind.
This December it will be four years of my life that have been tied to Curiosity in some way. I’ve met so many amazing people through this experience, from scientists to engineers to administrators to volunteers. Their devotion and enthusiasm inspire me greatly. My journey with Curiosity and the MSL mission team has shaped the person that I am today, as well as the person I would one day like to become.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to have this amazing adventure.
And to you, I hope your curiosity takes you far.
【小题1】 The method the writer uses to begin the passage is _____.

第二部分 阅读理解
（共25小题；第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分，满分45分）
第一节 阅读下列短文。从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
After lunch,I walked back home. I was just to cross the street when I heard the sound of a coin dropping. It wasn’t much but,as I turned, my eyes caught the heads of several other people turning too. A woman had dropped what appeared to be a dime.
The tinkling sound of a coin dropping on pavement is an attention-getter．It Can be nothing more than a penny．Whatever the coin is，no one ignores the sound of it．It got me thinking about sounds again．We are surrounded by so many sounds that attract the most attention．
People in New York City seldom turn to look when a fire engine，a police car or an ambulance comes screaming along the street．When I’m in New York，I’m a New Yorker．I don’t turn either．Like the natives，I hardly hear a siren(警报)there．
However，at home in my little town in Connecticut，it’s different．The distant sound of a police car, all emergency vehicle or a fire siren brings me to my feet if I’m seated and brings me to the window if I’m in bed．It’s the quietest sounds that have most effect on us．not the loudest．In the middle of the night, I can hear a dripping tap a hundred yards away thigh three closed doors．I’ve been hearing little creaking noises and sounds which my imaginnation turns into footsteps in the middle of the night for twenty-five years in our house．How come I never hear those sounds in the daytime?
I’m quite clear in my mind what the good sounds are and what the bad sounds are,I’ve turned against whistling，for instance：I used to think of it as the mark of a happy worker but lately I’ve been associating the whistler with a nervous person making unconscious noises．The tapping，tapping，tapping of my typewriter as the keys hit the paper is a lovely sound to me．I often like the sound of what I write better than the looks of it．
41．The sound of a coin dropping makes people________．
A．think of money    B．look at each other
C．pay attention to it    D．stop crossing the street
42．The author dislikes whistling because__________．
A．he has got tired of it    B．it reminds him of tense people
C．he used to be happier D．he doesn’t like workers
43. What kind of sound does the author find pleasant?
A．Tapping sound of his typewriter．    B．Clinking sound of keys．
C．Tinkling sound of a coin dropping．  D．Creaking sound of footsteps．
44．How does the author feel about sounds in general?
A．They make him feel al home．      B．He thinks they should be ignored．
C．He prefers silence to loud noises．   D．He believes they ale part of our life．