The 47-year-old singer talks about the new album Symphony（交响乐） that came out of a “very dark time”, including her decision to give up trying to have children. “People have suggested I could adopt,” Brightman says. “But work is central to my life now. And so I am going to put it to one side. After a while not having children becomes the norm and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different. I’m not hurt by not having children. My life and career are incredibly rich.”
Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted (father a property developer who later committed suicide), she says: “I was gifted as a child, and very musical. I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts. At 5，I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume.” She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school.
Brightman led the saucy dance troupe（辣妹三人舞） Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978. At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Graham Stewart. “I was probably in love but I can’t remember. Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22. It didn’t really work out.” In 1981 she was spotted by Lloyd Webber. She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera. They married in 1984.
Brightman says she felt hostility(敌意) “from the beginning. I haven’t tried to understand it. I’ve done very well everywhere else, especially the US, where I now live, I just accept it for what it is. The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it. But I don’t miss it, although I miss my family. Our profession can be uncomfortable but I enjoy what I do. I get on with it.” The first paragraph tells us that _____.
| A．Brightman is very popular around the world except in America |
| B．Brightman’s musical style is a mixture of opera, pop and jazz |
| C．the British people don’t like her for her style of music |
| D．Brightman is much older than Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Brightman decided to give up having children because _____.
| A．she could adopt one |
| B．her life and career were unbelievably rich without children |
| C．she felt it normal not to have children |
| D．she was too busy |
The following statements are true except ______.
| A．Brightman first appeared in a West End musical at 5 |
| B．Brightman disliked life on the campus |
| C．Brightman was very gifted when she was young |
| D．The saucy dance troupe made Brightman famous |
The underlined word in the fourth paragraph probably means _____.
| A．located | B．admired | C．followed | D．found |
What does the author try to say in the last paragraph by quoting Brightman’s words?
| A．Brightman has to accept the fact that she is not liked in Britain |
| B．Brightman lives in America but she loves her own country |
| C．The British coldness towards Brightman led to her hatred to her homeland |
| D．Brightman was at a loss why she was not welcome in Britain |
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York. b. Worked in a bank. c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison. e. Had a newspaper Job. f. Learned to write stories.
| A．c. e. b. d. f. a | B．e. c. f. b. d. a | C．e. b. d. c. a. f. | D．c. b. e. d. a f. |
People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because
| A．they had surprise endings | B．they were easy to understand |
| C．they showed his love for the poor | D．they were about New York City |
O. Henry went to prison because .
| A．people thought he had stolen money that was not his |
| B．he broke the law by not using his own name |
| C．he wanted to write stories about prisoners |
| D．people thought he had taken money from the newspaper |
What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
| A．He was well-educated. | B．He was not serious about his work. |
| C．He was devoted to the poor. | D．He was very good at learning. |
Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
| A．His life inside the prison. | B．The newspaper articles he wrote. |
| C．The city and people of New York. | D．His exciting early life as a boy. |
On the evening of June 21, 1992, a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes entered the beautiful hall of the Bell Tower Hotel in Xi’an with his bicycle. The hotel workers received him and telephoned the manager, for they had never seen a bicycle in the hotel ball before though they lived in “the kingdom of bicycles.”
Robert Friedlander, an American, arrived in Xi’an on his bicycle trip across Asia which started last December in New Delhi, India.
When he was 11, he read the book Ma-rco Polo and made up his mind to visit the Silk Road. Now, after 44 years , he was on the Silk Road in Xi’an and his early dreams were coming true.
Robert Friedlander’s next destinations (目的地) were Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Urumqi, etc. He will complete his trip in Pakistan.The best headline(标题) for this newspaper article would be .
| A．The Kingdom of Bicycles | B．A Beautiful Hotel in Xi’an |
| C．Marco Polo and the Silk Road | D．An American Achieving His Aims |
The hotel workers told the manager about Friedlander coming to the hotel because
| A．he asked to see the manager |
| B．he entered the hall with a bike |
| C．the manager had to know about all foreign guests |
| D．the manager knew about his trip and was expecting him |
Friedlander is visiting the three countries in the following order, .
| A．China, Pakistan, and India | B．Pakistan, China, and India |
| C．India, China, and Pakistan | D．China, India, and Pakistan |
What made Friedlander want to come to China?
| A．The stories about Marco Polo . | B．The famous sights in Xi’an . |
| C．His interest in Chinese silk. | D．His childhood dreams about bicycles . |
Friedlander can be said to be .
| A．determined | B．friendly | C．hardworking | D．open-minded |
Most Chinese people these days know what it is like to have an “English teacher”, since almost all pupils study English from their third year. Usually that first English teacher will be a young and lovely lady in primary school. But my first English teacher is no other than my father. Looking back, I can see that, when I was only a little girl, he created an English environment by providing me with flashcards，fun English- language toys and even dolls which can sing English songs! My interest in English had certainly been awakened (唤起) when I began to learn English at school. Just imagine, he went a step further and asked me to learn New Concept English by myself! I was puzzled and even angry. I could not understand why a father could be so strict with his little girl. All the same, he never gave up and he gently insisted that I follow through with his idea. At first, I read stories with tears and I actually hated them because they were too difficult for me. In the end, I came to love the funny stories and, to be honest, my father was always there with a helping hand. I am sure that my English would never have got so far without his support. And that’s why my father is not only my first English teacher but also my lifelong teacher. He is one who awoke my interest, and who gave me much confidence .Most pupils in China begin to learn English________.
| A．in primary school | B．from parents | C．at three years old | D．at home |
The underline part ”no other than my father” in the passage probably means________.
| A．like my father | B．not my father | C．my father himself | D．not only my father |
From the whole passage we can see that________.
| A．the girl preferred playing to learning English |
| B．the girl hates her father because he was strict |
| C．the girl is very thankful to her father |
| D．the father gave up after knowing his daughter could not understand |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The girl’s father is her first English teacher. |
| B．The girl had been interested in English before going to school. |
| C．The girl’s father was always ready to help her with her English. |
| D．The girl could have learned English well by herself without her father. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．How I learned English at school |
| B．My father---my first and lifelong English teacher |
| C．The relationship between my father and me |
| D．I’ve made progress in English learning |
The worker I hired to repair my house had just finished a difficult first day on the job. A broken wheel made him an hour late; his ladder (梯子) fell down when he was painting the roof and now his old truck wouldn' t start. With each problem he shouted angrily, more at himself than at his things. As I drove him home, the man didn't say a word.
I tried talking to the man to kill time. I managed to find out that he had come up from Blue Hills in Victoria with his family six months ago to find a job. This was his first job since moving here. I now knew why his price was lower than any other worker I could find in the local newspaper. He really needed the job. His clothes told me as much.
On arriving, much to my surprise, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked through his front garden he suddenly stopped at a small tree and placed his hands on it. Then, when he opened the door he completely changed. Instead of his troubled face, there was now a warm smile, hugs for his two children and a kiss for his wife.
The following day, I asked him about the tree.
"That's my trouble tree," he answered. "Work troubles aren't welcome at home with my wife and the children. So I hang them on that tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again. "
"And you know what else?" he said smiling,"The next morning I find that there aren't as many as I remember hanging up the night before. "Which of the following things did NOT happen to the worker?
| A．His truck broke down. | B．He was late for work. |
| C．He fell onto the roof. | D．His ladder fell down. |
When did the worker first arrive in this town?
| A．Today. | B．Last night. |
| C．Six weeks ago. | D．Six months ago. |
Where did the writer find the worker?
| A．Through a newspaper. | B．Beside the trouble tree. |
| C．In his old house. | D．In Blue Hills, Victoria. |
Why did the worker touch the tree?
| A．To get good luck, | B．To leave his trouble outside. |
| C．To send good wishes to his family. | D．To clean his hands. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Looking for a job can make trouble. |
| B．It is important to get to work on time. |
| C．Often our problems are worse than what we think. |
| D．A happy family can make many problems go away. |
Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this is why they’re always getting criticism. Their critics（批评家）seem to resent（对...不满） them because they have a gift for self-promotion and because they have so much money to throw around. ‘It’s unjust,’ they say, ‘that this entirely unproductive industry (if we can call it that) should absorb millions of pounds each year. It only goes to show how much profit the big companies are making. Why don’t they stop advertising and reduce the price of their goods? After all, it’s the consumer who pays…’
The poor old consumer! He’d have to pay a great deal more if advertising didn’t create mass markets for products. It is precisely because of the heavy advertising that consumer goods are so cheap. But we get the wrong idea if we think the only purpose of advertising is to sell goods. Another equally important function is to inform. A great deal of the knowledge we have about household goods comes largely from the advertisements we read. Advertisements introduce us to new products or remind us of the existence of ones we already know about. Supposing you wanted to buy a washing machine, it is more than likely you would obtain details regarding performance, price, etc., from an advertisement.
Lots of people pretend that they never read advertisements, but this claim may be seriously doubted. It is hardly possible not to read advertisements these days. And what fun they often are, too! Just think what a railway station or a newspaper would be like without advertisements. Would you enjoy gazing at a blank wall or reading railway byelaws(内部规则) while waiting for a train? Would you like to read only closely printed columns of news in your daily paper? A cheerful, witty advertisement makes such a difference to a dull wall or a newspaper full of the daily ration(定量) of disasters.
We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets. Newspapers, commercial radio and television companies could not survive without this source of revenue（收益）. The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper or can enjoy so many broadcast programs is due entirely to the money spent by advertisers. Just think what a newspaper would cost if we had to pay its full price!
Another thing we mustn’t forget is the ‘small ads.’ which are in virtually every newspaper and magazine. What a tremendously useful service they perform for the community! Just about anything can be accomplished through these columns. For instance, you can find a job, buy or sell a house, announce a birth, marriage or death in what used to be called the ‘hatch（giving birth）, match and dispatch’ column but by far the most fascinating section is the personal or ‘agony’ column（读者来信专栏）. No other item in a newspaper provides such entertaining reading or offers such a deep insight into human nature. It’s the best advertisement for advertising there is!What is main idea of this passage?
| A．Advertisements. |
| B．Advertisements bring fun to readers. |
| C．Advertisers perform a useful service to communities. |
| D．The costs of advertisements. |
The attitude of the author toward advertisers is
| A．appreciative. | B．trustworthy. | C．critical | D．dissatisfactory. |
Why do the critics criticize advertisers?
| A．Because advertisers often brag(自夸). |
| B．Because critics think advertisement is a “waste of money”. |
| C．Because customers are encouraged to buy more than necessary. |
| D．Because customers pay more. |
Which of the following is Not True?
| A．Advertisement makes contribution to our pockets and we may know everything. |
| B．We can buy what we want. |
| C．Good quality products don’t need to be advertised. |
| D．Advertisement makes our life colorful. |