Material Girl no more? Madonna says writing children’s books is more satisfying than being a movie star.

Her book, The English Roses, wen t on sale on September 15th, appearing in 100 countries and in 30 languages as the first in her series of tales for children. The pop diva (女歌唱家), whose only book until now was the 1992 photo essay titled “Sex”, said she wrote the books to teach children some of the life lessons she’s learned over the years.

“The most fun that I’ve had of all the things I’ve done successfully has been to write these books. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I’m not doing it to become more famous, and I’m not doing it to become richer. I’m doing it because I want to share something I know with children.”

Hours after its release, the 43?page book was already No. 3 on Amazon, com’s sales list. The first print is 1 million copies worldwide, with more than 750,000 in the United States. The English Roses is about a friendship shared by four girls and their mutual (共同的) envy of a beautiful classmate, with illustrations (插图) by fashion artist Jeffrey Fulvimari.

“There is one life?giving force in the world,” Madonna declared. “When we disconnect from this lifegiving force, that’s when we bring pain and suffering into our lives. Each of the stories has to do with different ways you disconnect from God. ”Madonna also said she was deeply affected by the experience of raising two children, Lourdes, 6, and Rocco, 3. The English Roses is the latest among a growing number of celebrity?written children’s books.

The next book in the series, “Mr Peabody’s Apples,”will be out in November.Each tale is set in a different time and  place and has new characters and different illustrators.

1.How many books does Madonna’s series of tales include?

A.At least 3.             B.4.             C.At least 2.               D.6.

2.According to the idea of Madonna, the underlined phrase “life-giving force”in Paragraph 5 refers to       .

A.The English Roses.      B.God            C.Mr Peabody’s Apples.   D.her life

3.When Madonna said writing children’s books was more satisfying than being a movie star,she meant that        .

A.she was more satisfied with her writing children’s books

B.she was more satisfied as a movie star       C.being a movie star was not really successful

D.she was not a Material Girl any more

4.According to the passage,Madonna wrote the book The English Roses in order to        .

A.provide children with fun                       B.teach children some life lessons

C.teach children how to become famous             D.share her success with children

A trip to the library can change your life.That is the idea of the Get It Loud in Libraries project，which challenges the habit of speaking in a low voice.The sweet tones of singer Diana Vickers rang out recently，surrounded by books as well as fans，at Lancaster Library.Plan B，Adele，Florence and the Machine，Speech Debelle，and the Thrills have also performed for the project.

This five­year project aims to increase access(进入) to libraries while developing youth talent and has attracted more than 8,500 visitors,5,000 of whom are first­time library users.

“I think it’s wonderful，”Vickers says.“I’ve been playing in front of big crowds and I’m excited about close environments where you can be close to your fans.”

As a child growing up in nearby Blackburn，she says that her school library was a “second home”to her.When she was young she loved PeterRabbit and Mr.Men books，and later her favorites included LittleWomen and TheLovelyBones.

Attracted by the stage，the young who would once never have been to a library have been returning to borrow books and CDs.The project’s founder，Stewart Parsons，has worked in libraries for 25 years.He feels that the concerts have made libraries something that the young want to be part of.A mother，Lauren Zawadzki，sent him a text message after a concert：“Your work is great！！！Both Izaak and Dom have been reading in the library for the last half hour...You should be proud.They would never have suggested that before the concerts.”

Parsons hopes that the activity is changing the way people view libraries.“My big worry is that libraries trail(拖拉)behind slightly；they shouldn’t.This is about bringing libraries up to date.The beautiful thing is that people are reconnecting with the library in a way they haven’t done before.”

1.The Get It Loud in Libraries project aims to ________.

2.According to the passage，Vickers’s attitude towards Libraries project is that of ________.

3.What can we know about Diana Vickers from the passage?

4.According to the passage，Zawadzki ________.

If I ever end up in a police missing-persons report, it will be because I went out to run some errands （跑差事） for my wife and never returned．

My adventure begins when I announce that I am going out to get a haircut, or to pick up my suit at the cleaner’s, or to do something that shouldn’t take very long．

As I look for my car keys, my wife utters （说出） those terrible words: “While you’re out …” This is a signal for me to make sure the car has enough gas for a cross-country trip because God knows when I will come back．

Of course my wife runs 95 percent of the errands, or that she is the one who keeps the household running smoothly．If it were up to me, the whole family would come to an end．The simple reason is that I am not good at doing anything more complicated than going out to get a haircut．

Here is what often happens:

“I’m going out to get a haircut,” I announce．

“While you’re out,” my wife says, “can you drop off the movie we rented last week? It’s due back today and I don’t want to pay a late charge．” “Sure,” I say．

Then she adds, “And stop at the post office for a book of stamps．” At last, I become nervous．I can handle a haircut and two errands．One more errand and I’m finished．

“And stop at the vet’s to pick up a bag of dog food．”

It doesn’t matter if all of these places are in the same shopping center （they aren’t）．Three errands are more than my brain can process （处理）．So I write them down．

“You mean you can’t remember three little errands?” my wife asks unbelievably．

Sadly, I can’t．I can remember to return the movie because it will be in the car． But with no visible reminders of my other two errands, I will almost certainly forget one of them．

I have to figure out where to go first．Should I get a haircut and then run my errands?

Should I stop at the post office first, get a haircut and then go to the video store and the vet’s on my way home?

Later in the day, I return home．With no small amount of pride, I hand her the book of stamps and the bag of dog food．She holds up a small box and says, “You forgot to give the movie back．”

It’s the story of my life: In one ear and out of the other．

1．The use of the word “terrible” in paragraph 3 shows that the writer ______．

A．does not love his wife

B．has deep hatred for his wife

C．gets frightened by his wife’s voice

D．is anxious about his wife’s request

2．The wife asks her husband to do three things after his haircut because ______．

A．she thinks they are easy errands

B．she likes to do housework at home

C．she is not satisfied with her lazy husband

D．she does not want to do these things herself

3．Why does the husband write down the three things?

A．He is serious．                          B．He is joking．

C．He is forgetful．                        D．He is foolish．

4．When the husband returns home, he is ______．

    A．rather tired       B．very happy          C．rather proud               D．very nervous

That“Monday morning feeling”could be a crushing pain in the chest which leaves you sweating and gasping for breath. Recent research from Germany and Italy shows that heart attacks are more common on Monday mornings and doctors blame the stress of returning to work after the weekend break.

　The risk of having a heart attack on any given day should be one in seven, but a six-year study helped by researchers at the Free University of Berlin of more than 2, 600 Germans showed that the average person had a 20 percent higher chance of having a heart attack on a Monday than on any other day.

　Working Germans are particularly not protected against attack, with a 33 percent higher risk at the beginning of the working week. Non-workers, by comparison, appear to be no more at risk on a Monday than any other day.

　A study of 11, 000 Italians proved 8 a. m. on a Monday morning as the most stressful time for the heart, and both studies showed that Sunday is the least stressful day, with fewest heart attacks in both countries.

　The finding could lead to a better understanding of what is the immediate cause of heart attacks, according to Dr Stefan Willich of the Free University. “We know a lot about long-term risk factors such as smoking and cholesterol（胆固醇）but we don’t know what actually causes heart attacks, so we can’t give clear advice on how to prevent them, ”he said.

　Monday mornings have a double helping of stress for the working body as it makes a rapid change from sleep to activity, and from the relaxing weekend to the pressures of work.

　“When people get up, their blood pressure and heart rate go up and there are hormonal（内分泌）changes in their bodies, ”Willich explained. “All these things can have an unfavorable effect in the blood system and increase the risk of a clot（血凝块）which will cause a heart attack.”

　“When people return to work after a weekend off, the pace of their life changes. They have a higher workload, more stress, more anger and more physical activities,”said Willich.

1.Monday morning feeling, as this passage shows, ________.

2.To protect people from a heart attack, doctors have paid much attention to ________.

3.It can be learned from this passage that the heart attack has something to do with all the following EXCEPT ________.

4.If the researchers give us some advice to avoid Monday morning feeling, what might it be?

—Would you like some more chicken?

—No，thanks.I am________a diet and I’m trying to ________weight.