Watercolor is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men who discovered they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the walls of caves by mixing the natural colors found in the earth with water.
Fresco(壁画), one of the greatest of all art forms, is done with watercolor. It is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster(灰泥). Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelo's heroic ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, very few know that they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world.
The invention of oil painting by the Flemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go down-hill, and for the next several centuries watercolor was used mainly for doing sketches(素描) or as a tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolor as a serious art form. The English have a widely-known love for the outdoors and also small, private pictures. The softness of watercolor had a remarkably strong attraction for them.
The popularity of watercolor continued to grow until in the twentieth century. The United States passed England as the center for watercolor, producing such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The gradual weakness of fresco painting. |
| B．Oils having more power or influence over watercolor. |
| C．The rediscovery of watercolor in England. |
| D．The start and development of watercolor. |
The first watercolor artists were ______.
| A．early cave men | B．Italian fresco artists |
| C．Flemish masters | D．English artists of the 18th century |
In 16th and 17th centuries the artists thought ______.
| A．watercolor was more costly, but was better |
| B．oil painting lasted less long, but clearer and brighter |
| C．watercolor was not suitable for finished works |
| D．oil painting was difficult to use |
According to the passage, watercolor painting was put back in England because ______.
A.it was easy to use outdoors B.it was a strong medium
B.it was extremely bright in color D.it was well suited to popular tastesWhat would the next paragraph most probably deal with?
| A．The works of famous American watercolor artists. |
| B．The weakness of oils as popular paints. |
| C．Techniques of producing watercolor. |
| D．Modern American oil painters. |
After an earthquake or any similar disaster, parents and teachers need to help children overcome the effects of this frightening and sometimes devastating （ 毁灭性的） experience. Psychologists （心理学家）say that if children go through a disturbing event before the age of ten, they are three times as likely to suffer psychological problems as teenagers. After a disaster children may become easily upset, shy, aggressive , or afraid of wind, rain, noises, or darkness. They may have trouble letting go of their parents and resist going to school or daycare. Some children may even feel guilty thinking that they somehow caused the disaster through their bad behavior. Because of such common reactions, parents and others should begin as soon after the event as possible helping these children.
Some suggestions include talking to the children about what happened, letting the children express their own feelings, spending extra time with them doing activities together and reassuring （使放心）them that you love them and won't leave them. For some children expressing themselves through drawing pictures or writing can be useful. Do everything possible to help children get back to a normal routine; however, don't be afraid to "spoil" these children for a while after the disaster. Let them have extra privileges （特权）and more attention than usual. Encourage the children to grieve （悲痛）after a loss. It should be OK for them to cry. Caring families and friends can do much to heal children victims of disasters.This passage is mainly about_______.
| A．how to help traumatized（心理受到创伤的）children to get over |
| B．the bad effects disasters bring to children |
| C．the psychological problems children before ten are likely to suffer |
| D．the importance of caring families |
According to the passage, a child who has just experienced a devastating disaster may become______.
| A．more mature | B．less dependent | C．willing to help | D．ready to attack |
Which is NOT advisable when dealing with the traumatized children?
| A．Allowing them freedom for some time. |
| B．Asking them to hold their feelings. |
| C．Encouraging them to show their grief. |
| D．Talking them into taking care of others. |
How many people have I met who have told me about the book that they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time? Far too many .This is Life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal（排演）and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments .
We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families, always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do. Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for Real Life to come along were in fact real life .
In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English：“Have a nice day!” They speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars. I think it is a wonderful phrase, reminding us to enjoy the moment: to value this very day .How often do we say to ourselves, "I'll take up horse-riding（or golf, or sailing）as soon as I get a higher position," only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position .
When I first became a reporter, I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper. At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be his completely abnormal（反常的）mental state. How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area？I wanted to know .
Now I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it. In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure .He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains .The first paragraph of the passage tells us that________.
| A．we always try to find some time to write a book |
| B．we always make plans but seldom fulfill them |
| C．we always enjoy many of life's best moments |
| D．we always do what we really want to do |
The man （in paragraph 6）left his first job partly because he was_________.
| A．in an abnormal state | B．under too much pressure |
| C．not well paid | D．not respected |
What is probably the best title for the passage?
| A．Provide Homes For Our Family | B．Take Up Horse-riding |
| C．Value This Very Day | D．Stay Alive |
Mr. Knight was the manager of a hotel. One weekend all of the hotels in the city were full because there was a large meeting. On Friday, three men came into the hotel and asked for rooms. Mr. Knight said there were no rooms ready because of the meeting. The men were unhappy.
Mr. Knight wanted to help them. He remembered that Room 418, a small room, was empty. He asked them if they could share a room. The three men said they would. Mr. Knight said the room would be thirty dollars; ten dollars for each person. Each man gave him the money and then went up to the room.
Mr. Knight soon began to feel sorry. “Thirty dollars is a lot to ask as a price for that small room.” he thought. He called his assistant over and said, “Here is five dollars. Take it to the men in Room 418. I asked too much for their room.”
The assistant took the money. While he was on the way there, he started to think, “How can three men divide five dollars? I’ll give them each only one dollar and keep the two dollars for myself. The men will be happy to get something back. And Mr. Knight will never know.” So the assistant returned one dollar to each man.
Each man had at first paid ten dollars. After the assistant returned them one dollar each, each had actually(in fact) paid nine. There were three men. $9´3="$27." The assistant kept$2. $27+$2="$29." Where is the missing dollar?With the help of the manager, the three men___________.
| A．went to another hotel |
| B．each got a small room for the night |
| C．stayed together in a small room |
| D．got a small room Mr. Knight kept for himself |
At first___________.
| A．$27 was paid by the three men |
| B．$30 was paid by each of the three men |
| C．$25 was paid by the three men |
| D．$10 was paid by each of the three men |
The assistant___________.
| A．helped the men to divide the money |
| B．kept two dollars for himself |
| C．kept three dollars for himself |
| D．returned three dollars to the men and two to the manger |
Where is the missing dollar?
| A．It was taken by the assistant, too. |
| B．It was taken by Mr. Knight. |
| C．It was taken by the three men. |
| D．In fact, there wasn’t any missing dollar. |
Singing had always been an important part of Gloria Estefan’s life. “Since I was three years old, I sang. I sang everything,” Gloria said. “Cubans,” she added, “are a musical people”.
Gloria was born in Cuba in 1957. Her family left the country just before Fidel Castro came to power. In Miami, where the family settled, many people did not accept Cuban immigrants. In first grade, she spoke little English, but she worked hard to learn the language. Six months after she entered school, she won an award for reading in English!
When Gloria was ten, her father returned from the Vietnam War. Soon, the family realized he wasn’t well. They soon found out that he was badly ill. Her mother went back to teaching at school to support the family. Gloria cared for her father and her younger sister.
She still made the honor roll, and she still had her music, but Gloria was lonely. However, when the band leader Emilio Estefan came to speak at her high school, Gloria sang for him. He asked her to join his band. It was the beginning of the Miami Sound Machine.
Within a few months, the Miami Sound Machine was the top band in Miami. In 1978 Gloria and Emilio married.
At first, the Miami Sound Machine was known only in Miami. Then the band signed with CBS Records. Estefan and his band became stars.
Since then, the Miami Sound Machine has sold millions of records. Gloria has done more than just singing when Hurricane Andrew hit central Florida in 1992. She used only two weeks to organize an all-star concert that raised $2 million for the people who suffered in the hurricane. “We needed a party after that disaster,” she said.
Gloria said, “You have to stay true to the music you really love to do. There will always be people who will tell you, ‘that won’t work.’ You’ve got to be firm in spite of difficulties. Stick to it—that’s the main thing.”Gloria’s father was ill_________.
| A．when they settled down in Miami. |
| B．before they left their home country |
| C．after he returned from Vietnam War |
| D．as soon as she finished high school |
According to the passage, probably Gloria did the following excep________ .
| A．organizing an all-star concert for Hurricane victims |
| B．winning an award for reading in English |
| C．teaching at school to support the family |
| D．taking care of her father and sister |
The underlined word “disaster” in this passage refers to __________ .
| A．the concert | B．the celebration | C．the victims | D．the hurricane |
When we talk about stars ,especially women stars ,it seems that they are always young, pretty and own charming body shapes. But recently a Britain's Got Talent（英国达人）star Susan Boyle has changed our views absolutely.
Simon Cowell ,one of the judges of the talent show spoke of his shock over Ms Boyle's voice. "This lady camp up ,and I'm thinking, 'This will take five seconds and I can go to have a cup of tea'. That changed when she began to sing I Dreamed to Dream from Les Miserables. She knew we were going to have that reaction and just to see that look of satisfaction on her face through -it was one of my favorite moments," Cowell said.
The performance was posted on line and before long, the 47-year-old Scottish woman has been famous all over the world.
Speaking from her home in Scotland, Ms Boyle said that she hasn't thought of changing her appearance. She said that her friend helped her with make-up. "I mean, that's hardly a makeover," she added.Ms Boyle also spoke of the reason she first began to explore her vocal talents, "I was kind of slow at school, so getting like singing was a good way of hiding behind that and thus it built my confidence."Susan Boyle is _________
| A．a judge | B．a reporter | C．a beautiful | D．a Scottish woman |
Susan Boyle had a look of satisfaction on her face when she was singing because______.
| A．she was confident of her singing |
| B．she was satisfied with the judges |
| C．she was pretty and in good shape |
| D．she sang the song I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables |
According to the passage, which is NOT true?
| A．It was the vocal talents that built Susan's confidence |
| B．Susan Boyle was not good at her lesson when at school. |
| C．Susan Boyle became famous because of her appearance. |
| D．Simon Cowell didn't think Susan Boyle a good singer at the first sight. |
What can we learn from Susan Boyle's success
| A．It's never too old to learn. |
| B．It's easier to succeed at the age of 47. |
| C．If you have a dream, try to make it come true! |
| D．If you are not able to study well, to be a singer instead. |