Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However, he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters, such as Cinderella and Snow White. They are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables (寓言) into cartoon movies.

The original Cinderella varies very much from the Disney version we know today. It started off with the girl mourning her mother’s death and going to her tomb three times a day. In addition, there were only birds that helped Cinderella; there was no such thing as a fairy godmother or helpful mice, nor was there mention of a horse and carriage.

The stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella’s food into the ashes of the fire and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence (因此) her name.

In the original story, the king’s ball actually lasted for three days. With the help of the birds, the girl, beautifully dressed, danced with the prince on all three nights and the prince fell in love with her. However, she broke away from him to rush back home each night. On the last night, the prince placed something sticky on the stairs; as Cinderella made her escape, a shoe got stuck on it.

Here now is where the story becomes unpleasant: when the prince went to the house looking for the girl whose foot fit the shoe, the wicked (邪恶的) stepmother told one of her two daughters to cut off her big toe to fit into the shoe. The daughter did as told. So the prince took her away to be his bride. But when they passed the tomb of Cinderella’s mother, the birds called out to the prince,

“Turn and peep, there’s blood in the shoe;

The shoe is too small, the true bride waits for you.”

Realizing he had been tricked, the prince returned the daughter to her mother. The other then had to cut off part of her heel in order to fit into the shoe, with the same result. Only Cinderella’s foot fit perfectly and so the prince chose to marry her. The story ends with the wedding day: as Cinderella’s two stepsisters followed her, pretending to be devoted to her so that they could enjoy the king’s riches, two birds flew by and plucked (啄) out their eyes. Because of their wickedness and falsehood, they had to spend the rest of their days blind.

The original Cinderella is so different from the Disney version. Thank goodness Disney made such changes; it indeed was a wise move.

1.What does the underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refer to?

A. Such wonderful things.

B. Other well-loved characters.

C. Old fables.

D. Cartoon movies.

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the original story?

A. Helpful mice got Cinderella a beautiful dress.

B. The ball was held to celebrate the prince’s wedding.

C. Cinderella left her shoe on the stairs on purpose.

D. The birds told the prince that he had been cheated.

3.The moral of the original story is that ____________.

A. a wicked person cannot escape punishment.

B. a devoted person certainly deserves respect.

C. a well-behaved child earns a great reward.

D. a dishonest child cannot get mother love.

4.What does the author think of the Disney version?

A. Excellent. B. Ordinary C. Dull. D. Ridiculous.

China Merchants Bank Co Ltd has teamed up with ride-hailing major Didi Kuaidi to provide automobile financing and expand its reach in China's booming mobile payment industry.

The two have inked a comprehensive partnership, which includes a strategic investment by the former in the latter. Under the partnership, CMB will become the first bricks-and-mortar bank that can offer in-app credit card payments to Didi users. At present, users of Didi can only choose third-party payment solutions like WeChat Payment and Alipay to pay cab fares.

Zhao Ju, vice-president of CMB, said the cooperation with Didi was an important step in its mobile Internet finance strategy. “CMB's mobile payment is going to enter a new chapter by leveraging Didi Kuaidi's vast user base," he said.

According to a report by China Internet Network Information Center earlier this month, Didi holds 87.2 percent of China's private car hailing market. The company said it has received 1.43 billion car-hailing requests on its platforms in 2015, which means 1.43 billion payments were made via smartphones.

CMB is expected to use Didi to reach the core users of China's mobile payment market. Jean Liu, president of Didi, said many of the expats prefer payment by credit card rather than Alipay or WeChat. "The new partnership will help improve service quality and customer loyalty," she said. The investment makes CMB part of Didi's existing investors, including Tencent Holdings Ltd, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and China Investment Corporation. Both of the companies declined to reveal the actual amount of the investment.

Liu, who showed up on Tuesday for the first time in public after her treatment for breast cancer, said the cooperation with CMB is for the long run and "the capital investment is only part of it".

Under the partnership, CMB and Didi will cooperate on a wide range of initiatives on financial services and online-to-offline cooperation. Apart from the in-app credit card payments, the two companies are going to launch joint credit cards in late February and automobile financing services for Didi's car owners. CMB's branches across China are expected to help Didi recruit more drivers.

"There is a lot of room for imagination in our partnership," Li said, adding in future people may use their CMB credit card reward points to pay for the ride on Didi.

Li Chao, an analyst with iResearch Consulting Group, said the partnership may not significantly boost CMB's mobile payment business. "Didi has educated the market for three years and its customers have formed the habit of paying by WeChat or Alipay. So I think CMB can only turn a very smart proportion of Didi users into its payment customer," he said. "But the move shows that China's traditional banking industry is finally thinking out of the box and looking for outside partners in Internet finance competition," he said.

Statistics from Big-Data Research showed that more than 90 percent of China's 9.3 trillion yuan ($1.41 trillion) worth of third party mobile payment market is donated by Alibaba and Tencent.

1.Which of the following sentences is true about Didi Kuaidi ?

A. The users of Didi can pay cab fare in cash.

B. At present, Didi holds the largest market of China's private car hailing business.

C. With several years of development, the users of Didi have abandoned the third-party payment.

D. CMB will become the most important investor of Didi.

2.Which of the following is not the purpose of CMB’s cooperation with Didi? .

A. CMB is expected to use Didi to reach the core users of China's mobile payment market.

B. Through the cooperation with Didi, CMB will help improve service quality and customer loyalty.

C. CMB will launch joint credit cards with Didi to expand its service.

D. CMB will turn a very large proportion of Didi users into its payment customer.

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A. CMB's mobile payment is going to enter a new chapter.

B. China's traditional banking industry is facing fierce Internet finance competition.

C. CMB and Didi will have a online-to-offline cooperation.

D. Mobile payment market is donated by Alibaba and Tencent.

4.What’s Li Chao’ attitude towards the partnership between CMB and Didi?

A. cautious B. positive

C. indifferent D. disapproving

5.The main idea of this passage is that ___________.?

A. CMB develops partnership with Didi Kuaidi.

B. CMB is looking for outside partners in Internet finance competition.

C. Didi Kuaidi is going to enter a new chapter.

D. Alibaba and Tencent dominate the mobile payment market.

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