The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art. My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant. What she meant was that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum. Before each visit to the museum, she made us read about artists and painting styles. It was almost as bad as being in school. Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?
First we had to read about ancient Egyptians and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum. My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested. Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing. We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly (鬈曲的) hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings. I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art.
On our last visit to the museum, something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary. In it, a woman was reading to a child. The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother' s expression how happy she was just to be with the child. I couldn't stop looking at this painting ! I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worth looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much.
53. The aim of the mother' s plan was to _________.
A. take them to visit the museum B. introduce them to the world of art
C. ask them to read about artists D. show them different painting styles
54. What was the writer' s experience in the museum before the last visit?
A. She came to feel her mother' s love. B. She liked many paintings.
C. She hardly enjoyed herself. D. She could understand the pictures of fat babies.
55. What made the writer go through a change that summer?
A. One of Mary's paintings. B. A strange way of painting.
C. Artists in the Middle Ages. D. Her mother' s instruction.
56. From the text, we can see _________.
A. the importance of curiosity B. the effect of art
C. the value of learning D. the power of family education
On one of her trips to New York several years ago, Eudora Welty decided to take a couple of New York friends out to dinner. They settled in at a comfortable East Side cafe and within minutes, another customer was approaching their table.
"Hey, aren't you from Mississippi?" the elegant, white-haired writer remembered being asked by the stranger. "I'm from Mississippi too."
Without a second thought, the woman joined the Welty party. When her dinner partner showed up, she also pulled up a chair.
"They began telling me all the news of Mississippi," Welty said. "I didn't know what my New York friends were thinking."
Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine. By the time the group got up to leave, it was pouring outside. Welty's new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab. Heading back downtown toward her hotel, her big-city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi.
"My friends said: 'Now we believe your stories,'" Welty added. "And I said: 'Now you know. These are the people that make me write them.'"
Sitting on a sofa in her room, Welty, a slim figure in a simple gray dress, looked pleased with this explanation.
"I don't make them up," she said of the characters in her fiction these last 50 or so years. "I don't have to."
Beauticians, bartenders, piano players and people with purple hats, Welty's people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends, from walks through the streets of her native Jackson, Miss., from conversations overheard on a bus. It annoys Welty that, at 78, her left ear has now given out. Sometimes, sitting on a bus or a train, she hears only a fragment(片段) of a particularly interesting story.
5.What happened when Welty was with her friends at the cafe?
| A. |
Two strangers joined her. |
| B. |
Her childhood friends came in. |
| C. |
A heavy rain ruined the dinner. |
| D. |
Some people held a party there. |
6.The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 6 refers to Welty's____.
| A. |
readers |
B. |
parties |
C. |
friends |
D. |
stories |
7.What can we learn about the characters in Welty's fiction?
| A. |
They live in big cities. |
| B. |
They are mostly women. |
| C. |
They come from real life. |
| D. |
They are pleasure seekers. |
Music
Opera at Music Hall:1243 Elm Street. The season runs June through August, with additional performances in March and September. The Opera honors Enjoy the Artsmembership discounts. Phone: 241-2742. http://www.cityopera.com.
Chamber Orchestra:The Orchestra plays at Memorial Hall at 1406 Elm Street, which offers several concerts from March through June. Call 723-1182 for more information. http://www.chamberorch.com.
Symphony Orchestra:At Music Hall and Riverbend. For ticket sales, call 381-3300. Regular season runs September through May at Music Hall in summer at Riverbend. http://www.symphony.org/home.asp.
College Conservatory of Music (CCM):Performances are on the main campus(校园) of the university, usually at Patricia Cobbett Theater. CCM organizes a variety of events, including performances by the well-known LaSalle Quartet, CCM's Philharmonic Orchestra, and various groups of musicians presenting Baroque through modern music. Students with I.D. cards can attend the events for free. A free schedule of events for each term is available by calling the box office at 556-4183. http://www.ccm.uc.edu/events/calendar.
Riverbend Music Theater:6295 Kellogg Ave. Large outdoor theater with the closest seats under cover (price difference).Big name shows all summer long! Phone:232-6220. http://www.riverbendmusic.com.
1.Which number should you call if you want to see an opera?
| A. |
241-2742. |
B. |
723-1182. |
| C. |
381-3300. |
D. |
232-6220. |
2.When can you go to a concert by Chamber Orchestra?
| A. |
February. |
B. |
May. |
C. |
August. |
D. |
November. |
3.Where can students go for free performances with their I.D. cards?
| A. |
Music Hall. |
B. |
Memorial Hall. |
| C. |
Patricia Cobbett Theater. |
D. |
Riverbend Music Theater. |
4.How is Riverbend Music Theater different from the other places?
| A. |
It has seats in the open air. |
| B. |
It gives shows all year round. |
| C. |
It offers membership discounts. |
| D. |
It presents famous musical works. |
FLORENCE, Italy-Svetlana Cojochru feels hurt. The Moldovan has lived here seven years as a caregiver to Italian kids and elderly, but in order to stay she's had to prove her language skills by taking a test which requires her to write a postcard to an imaginary friend and answer a fictional job ad.
Italy is the latest Western European country trying to control a growing immigrant(移民) population by demanding language skills in exchange for work permits, or in some cases, citizenship.
Some immigrant advocates worry that as hard financial times make it more difficult for natives to keep jobs, such measures will become a more vehicle for intolerance than integration(融合). Others say it's only natural that newcomers learn the language of their host nation, seeing it as a condition to ensure they can contribute to society.
Other European countries laid down a similar requirement for immigrants, and some terms are even tougher. The governments argue that this will help foreigners better join the society and promote understanding across cultures.
Italy, which has a much weaker tradition of immigration, has witnessed a sharp increase in immigration in recent years. In 1990, immigrants numbered some 1.14 million out of Italy's then 56.7 million people, or about 2 percent. At the start of this year, foreigners living in Italy amounted to 4.56 million of a total population of 60.6 million, or 7.5 percent, with immigrants' children accounting for an even larger percentage of births in Italy.
Cojochru, the Moldovan caregiver, hoped obtaining permanent residence(居住权) would help her bring her two children to Italy; they live with her sister in Moldova, where salaries are among the lowest in Europe. She was skeptical that the language requirement would encourage integration.
Italians always "see me as a foreigner," an outsider, even though she's stayed in the country for years and can speak the local language fluently, she said.
28. Why does Cojochru have to take a language test?
| A. |
To continue to stay in Italy. |
B. |
To teach her children Italian. |
| C. |
To find a better job in Italy. |
D. |
To better mix with the Italians. |
29. Some people worry that the new language requirement may ________.
| A. |
reduce Italy's population quickly |
B. |
cause conflicts among people |
| C. |
lead to financial difficulties |
D. |
put pressure on schools |
30. What do we know about Cojochru?
| A. |
She lives with her sister now in Italy. |
| B. |
She enjoys learning the Italian language. |
| C. |
She speaks Italian well enough for her job. |
| D. |
She wishes to go back to her home country. |
Getting less sleep has become a bad habit for most American kids. According to a new survey(调查) by the National Sleep Foundation, 51% of kids aged 10 to 18 go to bed at 10 pm or later on school nights, even though they have to get up early. Last year the Foundation reported that nearly 60% of 7- to 12-year-olds said that they felt tired during the day, and 15% said they had fallen asleep at school.
How much sleep you need depends a lot on your age. Babies need a lot of rest: most of them sleep about 18 hours a day! Adults need about eight hours. For most school-age children, ten hours is ideal(理想的). But the new National Sleep Foundation survey found that 35% of 10- to 12-year-olds get only seven or eight hours. And guess what almost half of the surveyed kids said they do before bedtime? Watch TV.
"More children are going to bed with TVs on, and there are more opportunities(机会) to stay awake, with more homework, the Internet and the phone," says Dr. Mary Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown University Medical School. She says these activities at bedtime can get kids all excited and make it hard for them to calm down and sleep. Other experts say part of the problem is chemical. Changing levels of body chemicals called hormones not only make teenagers' bodies develop adult characteristics, but also make it hard for teenagers to fall asleep before 11 pm.
Because sleepiness is such a problem for teenagers, some school districts have decided to start high school classes later than they used to. Three years ago, schools in Edina, Minnesota, changed the start time from 7:25 am to 8:30 am. Students, parents and teachers are pleased with the results.
25. What is the new National Sleep Foundation survey on?
| A. |
American kids' sleeping habits. |
B. |
Teenagers' sleep-related diseases. |
| C. |
Activities to prevent sleeplessness. |
D. |
Learning problems and lack of sleep. |
26. How many hours of sleep do 11-year-olds need every day?
| A. |
7 hours. |
B. |
8 hours. |
C. |
10 hours. |
D. |
18 hours. |
27. Why do teenagers go to sleep late according to Carskadon?
| A. |
They are affected by certain body chemicals. |
| B. |
They tend to do things that excite them. |
| C. |
They follow their parents' examples. |
| D. |
They don't need to go to school early. |
Benjamin West,the father of American painting, showed his talent for art when he was only six years of age. But he did not know about brushes before a visitor told him he needed one. In those days ,a brush was made from camel's hair. There were no camels nearby. Benjamin decided that cat hair would work instead. He cut some fur from the family cat to make a brush.
The brush did nott last long. Soon Benjamin needed more fur. Before long, the catbegan to look ragged (蓬乱). His father said that the cat must be sick. Benjamin was forced to admit what he had been doing.
The cat ' s lot was about to improve.That year, one of Benjamin's cousins, Mr.Pennington, came to visit. He was impressed with Benjamin's drawings. When he went home, he sent Benjamin a box of paint and some brushes. He also sent six engravings (版画)by an artist. These were the forst pictures and first real paint and brushes Benjamin had ever seen.In 1747,when Benjamin was nine years old,Mr.Pennington retured for another visit .He was amazed at what Benjamin had done with his gift.He asked Benjamin's parents if he might take the boy to Philadelphia for a visit.
In the city, Mr.Pennington gave Benjamin materials for creating oil paintings.The boy began a landscape (风景) painting.Wiliams ,a well-known painter,came to see him work . Wiliams was impressed with Benjamin and gave him two classic books on painting to take home .The books were long and dull. Benjamin could read only a little,having been a poor student.But he later said,"Those two books were my companions by day,and under my pillow at night."While it is likely that he understood very little of the books,they were his introduction to classical paintings.The nine-year-old boy decided then that he would be an artist.
21. What is the text mainly about?
| A. |
Benjamin's visit to Philadelphia. |
| B. |
Williams' influence on Benjamin. |
| C. |
The beginning of Benjamin's life as an artist. |
| D. |
The friendship between Benjamin and Pennington. |
22. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 3 suggest?
| A. |
The cat would be closely watched. |
| B. |
The cat would get some medical care. |
| C. |
Benjamin would leave his home shortly. |
| D. |
Benjamin would have real brushes soon. |
23. What did Pennington do to help Benjamin develop his talent?
| A. |
He took him to see painting exhibitions. |
| B. |
He provided him with painting materials. |
| C. |
He sent him to a school in Philadelphia. |
| D. |
He taught him how to make engravings. |
24. Williams' two books helped Benjamin to ________.
| A. |
master the use of paints |
| B. |
appreciate landscape paintings |
| C. |
get to know other painters |
| D. |
make up his mind to be a painter |