Jeremy Shu-How Lin is an American professional basketball player with the New York Knicks
of the National Basketball Association. Lin was born on August on 23, 1988 in Los Angeles,
California , and grew up in a Christian family in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Palo Alto. His
parents, Gie-Ming and Shirley, emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the mid-1970s. They
are dual nationals of both Taiwan and the U.S.
     Lin's parents are both 5 feet 6 inches tall. His maternal grandmother's family was tall, and her father
was over 6 feet. Lin has an older brother, Josh , and a younger brother , Joseph .
     In his senior year in 2005-2006, Lin captained Palo Alto High School to a 32-1 record and upset
nationally ranked Mater Dei , 51-47 , for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II
state title . He was named first - team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year,
ending his senior year averaging 15.1 points , 7.1 assists , 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals .
     Lin sent his resume and a DVD of highlights of his high school basketball career to many universities.
Harvard and Brown were the only teams that guaranteed him a spot on their basketball teams.
      In July 2005, then-Harvard assistant coach Bill Holden saw that Lin was 6 feet 3 inches, which fit
the physical attributes he was seeking , and he had a 4.2 grade point average in high school , which fit
Harvard's academic standards . However, Holden was not initially impressed with Lin's on-court abilities, and told Lin's high school basketball coach , Peter Diepenbrock , that Lin was a "Division III player".
Later that week, Holden saw Lin playing in a much more competitive game, driving to the basket at
every opportunity with the "instincts of a killer". Lin became a top-priority for Holden. Harvard coaches
feared that Stanford, close to Lin's home, would offer Lin a scholarship, but it did not , and Lin chose to
attend Harvard .
     Joe Lacob, incoming Warriors' owner and Stanford booster, said Stanford's failure to accept Lin
"was really stupid. The kid was right across the street. If you can't recognize that, you've got a problem."
Kerry Keating, the UCLA assistant who offered Lin the opportunity to walk-on , said in hindsight that
Lin would probably have ended up starting at point guard for UCLA (University of California at Los
Angeles ) .

1. Which of the following statements about Shu-How Lin is NOT correct according to the passage ?

A. He is a professional basketball player of the NBA .
B. He was brought up in a Chinese-American family .
C. His parents are of medium height .
D. He is the oldest son in his family .

2. The statistics in the third paragraph shows that        .

A. Lin is an excellent basketball player
B. Lin is an excellent captain of a basketball team
C. Lin is an excellent organizer on the basketball court
D. Lin has a large number of fans all over the country

3. Bill Holden gave a chance to Lin because          .

A. he was tall enough with excellent records on the basketball court
B. he finally found Lin with the instincts of a killer
C. he found Lin was a very active basketball player
D. his all-round abilities fit Harvard's academic standards

4. Joe Lacob thinks that          .

A. It was a mistake for Stanford not to accept Lin
B. Lin can make a good captain of the university basketball team
C. Lin is hopeful to be an excellent point guard
D. some Division I coaches have problems finding good basketball players

     Amelia Earhart's (1897～1937) childhood was not the typical girl's. She liked nothing better than to
explore the banks of the Missouri River, where she climbed trees and hunted rats with her rifle (步枪).
She also built her own roller coaster (过山车).
     The exciting life of the American aviation (航空) pioneer is dramatized in the movie Amelia, which is
due to come out on October 23.
     After Earhart paid a pilot $1 to take her up for a short fly in his plane, aviation became her love and
career.
     As she later explained, "Never do things others can do and will do, if there are things others cannot do or will not do."
     Earhart found herself a flying teacher and started to learn to fly. She took all sorts of jobs to pay for
the lessons and to buy a secondhand plane on her 24th birthday.
     In 1932, Earhart flew solo (单独地) across the Atlantic. She became the first woman to make the
solo crossing. She also made a flying suit for women and went on to design other clothes for women who
led active lives. "Now and then women should do for themselves what men have already done-occasionally what men have not done-thereby establishing themselves as persons, and perhaps encouraging other
women toward greater independence of thought and action," she said.
     When she was nearly 40, Earhart was ready for a final challenge-to be the first woman to fly around
the world.However, in the flight, she and her navigator (领航员) disappeared in bad weather.
     Earhart will be forever remembered as a brave pioneer for both aviation and for women.

1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A. A movie about Earhart's exciting life has come out.
B. Earhart never did things others could and would do.
C. Earhart's love for aviation came after she flew a plane for a short time.
D. In Earhart's opinion, women should think and act more independently.

2. The underlined word in Paragraph 2 means "________".

A. presented  
B. adopted  
C. published  
D. created

3. From the passage we can know that________.

A. Earhart showed most interest in adventure trips to the Missouri River during her childhood
B. Earhart's ambition was to fly across the Atlantic
C. Earhart challenged herself constantly
D. Besides flying, Earhart also designed planes and clothes

4. You can probably find this article in________.

A. a booklet  
B. a newspaper
C. a guidebook  
D. an advertisement

     Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. In spite of this,
he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real
name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain,
his penname.
     Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected
to live through the first winter. But with his mother's care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he
caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors.
He didn't like to go to school, and he often ran away from home. He always went in the
direction of the nearby Mississippi(密西西比河). He was nearly drowned nine times.
     After his father's death, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him
with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a printer, a river-boat pilot and later joined the
army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period, he started to write short
stories. Afterwards he became a full time writer.
     In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including
Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him
great fortune.
     Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments(投资) and he had to write
large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died, and then three of his
children passed away.
     At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties.
He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910.

1．In his childhood, Mark Twain, ________.

A．learned a lot at school
B．he often went swimming with other boys
C．his mother often worried about his safety
D．he often played games with other boys

2．Which of the following shows the right order about Mark Twain?
a. He became a miner.b. He worked as a printer.
c. He got into debts.d. His father died.
e. He became a full-time writer.F. He joined the army.

A. a-d-b-c-e-f
B. d-b-f-a-e-c
C. d-a-f-e-b-c
D. c-b-d-f-e-a

3．In order to make a living, Mark Twain _______.

A．first worked as a printer
B．did many kinds of work
C．wrote stories in the beginning
D．joined the army after he worked in a mine

4．From the passage we can see that Mark Twain _______.

A．had a happy childhood
B．was a good boy and always did what he was asked
C．was very naughty when he was young
D．lived a pleasant life

5．Before his death, Mark Twain _______.

A. became a white man
B. was in low spirits
C. liked to buy all kinds of clothes
D. had nothing on

     Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when
she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That
was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing
many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by
a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music
lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
     In 1849, after graduation from medical school, she decided to further her education in
Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to
give up the idea.
     Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because
she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another
woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides
being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first
medical school for women.

1. Why couldn't Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon?_____

A. She couldn't get admitted to medical school
B. She decided to further her education in Paris
C. A serious eye problem stopped her
D. It was difficult for her to start a practice in the United States

2. What main obstacle(障碍) almost destroyed Elizabeth's chances for becoming a doctor?_____

A. She was a woman
B. She wrote too many letters.
C. She couldn't graduate from medical school.
D. She couldn't set up her hospital.

3. How many years passed between her graduation from medical school and the
opening of her hospital?_____

A. Eight years
B. Ten years
C. Nineteen years
D. Thirty-six years

4. According to the passage, all of the following are "firsts" in the life of Elizabeth Blackwell
except that she ______.

A. became the first woman physician
B. was the first woman doctor
C. and several other women founded the first hospital for women and children
D. set up the first medical school for women

5. Elizabeth Blackwell spent most of her lift in _______.

A. England
B. Paris
C. the United States
D. New York City

     Arthur Miller(1915-2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists
of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria Hungary,drawn
like so many others by the" Great American Dream". However, he experienced severe
financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the
early l930s.
     Millers' s most famous play, Death of a Salesman , is a powerful attack on the American
system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social
status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has
got into trouble with his worth. Willy is "burnt out" and in the cruel world of business there
is no room for sentiment: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the
Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at loss as to what
to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself
in the end.
     When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and
it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and
the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
     Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February
10,2005,the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.

1. Why did Arthur Miller' s father move to the USA?______

A. He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.
B. He was attracted by the "Great American Dream".
C. He hoped to make his son a dramatist.
D. His family business failed.

2. The play Death of a Salesman _______.

A. exposes the cruelty of the American business world
B. discusses the ways to get promoted in a company
C. talks about the business career of Arthur Miller
D. focuses on the skills in doing business

3. What can we learn about Willy Loman?______

A. He treats his employer badly.
B. He runs the Wagner Company.
C. He is a victim of the American system.
D. He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.

4. What is the text mainly about?______

A. Arthur Miller and his family.
B. The awards Arthur Miller won.
C. The hardship Arthur Miller experienced.
D. Arthur Miller and his best-known play.

    Duke Ellington is known as one of the most important composers of his time, and his work has been
enjoyed for more than 80 years by music lovers all over the world. During his lifetime Ellington turned
musical sounds into many compositions, mostly in the style known as jazz.
     The Early Years
     Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington, D. C. It wasn't until Ellington was a
teenager that his interest in music grew. He taught himself to play the piano by listening to local piano
players. Sometime around 1916 Ellington began playing the piano at high school parties. Ellington realized
that he enjoyed entertaining people with his music. He soon became a very popular musician, playing at
parties and other events in the Washington area. Young adults seemed especially delighted by the modern pieces he composed.
    Success in New York
     In 1923, when Ellington was almost 24 years old, he joined The Washingtonians, a five-piece group
of musicians in Washington, and became the group's leader in early 1924. In 1927 Ellington and his
orchestra won an engagement (雇佣期) at Harlem's famous Cotton Club. For the next three years, his
orchestra played at the Cotton Club nearly every night.
    The Influence of the Cotton Club
    Working at the Cotton Club encouraged Ellington's creativity. Since the shows changed every six
months, he was challenged by the need to continually develop new material. He had to compose a wide
variety of music to accompany the various acts in the Cotton Club shows and to adapt that music to the
strengths and weaknesses of the players in his orchestra.
     By 1928 the popular nightspot began radio broadcasts. From the broadcasts Ellington and his
orchestra gained a national reputation.
    On the Road
     As Ellington's popularity increased, he realized that his orchestra could do well on concert tours. They
left the Cotton Club in 1931 and toured America and Europe almost continually for the next 43 years. In
addition to touring, Ellington made recordings and continued to compose music.
     Duke Ellington played the piano, composed music, and led his famous orchestra for more than 50
years, until his death in 1974. Music lovers all over the world agree that the large quantity of music he
created will be enjoyed for many years to come.